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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. scale — in music
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. capital — money
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. scale — size or range
  11. season — in sport
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. season — of the year
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. kid — to tease
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. swing — in golf
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to bend
  21. capital — a city
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com